I was watching a presenter on a webinar a few weeks ago.
When it started, there were 47 participants.
After 15 minutes, there was 16.
Brutal.
Especially when the numbers are there for all to see.
What caused it?
A combination of a poor start by the presenter and the short attention span of the audience.
You can’t do much about the latter.
So focus on the former: the start.
The presenter made three fundamental errors.
Firstly, he wasn’t ready at the advertised time.
He spent two minutes having meaningless small talk with his co-presenters.
He could surely see there were over 40 people waiting, but he ignored them.
Have the small talk before the audience joins.
From the moment they join, make them your focus.
Either start or clearly say you’re about to.
Secondly, he wasted another two minutes on housekeeping.
None of it was relevant or interesting.
If you need to do housekeeping, make it short and sweet.
Better still, consider doing it before you formally begin.
Thirdly, his first key topic was dull.
It was a predictable result from a pointless survey question.
He spent a full 10 minutes on it.
We were almost 15 minutes in and I had learnt nothing.
No wonder people left the call.
I nearly did.
Make sure your first real topic is a strong pillar topic.
Something that – you find interesting and you believe your audience will too.
Don’t make them wait for the good stuff.
Next time you deliver a webinar:
- Give the audience 100% of your attention from the moment they join
- Keep housekeeping short
- Start with something genuinely engaging
Get the first 15 minutes of a webinar right and you’ll keep far more of your audience.
Looking for more presentation tips? Why not check out the following article on the three simple steps to make sure your speaking notes actually help you on stage.
